Guardian

With unemployment down, benefit-free contract working is becoming the new norm.

This article titled “How America became a nation of freelancers” was written by Teresa Wiltz, for guardian.co.uk on Tuesday 7th February 2012 17.38 UTC

Missing from all the chatter about jobs, jobs, jobs is this: we’re becoming a nation of freelancers. The US is no longer an industrial-based society where you can count on having a job for life and a sparkly new watch at your retirement party. (And forget about that pension.) According to the Freelancers Union, one in three workers are now toiling as freelancers, temps, “permalancers”, perma-temps, contractors, contingent workers, etc. That amounts to some 42 million freelancers in the US – people who are working without the benefit of employer-sponsored health insurance, 401k plans and flexible spending accounts.

In this episode, the PSFK team will guide listeners through six main insights into why customers still care about the store in the age of commerce (hint: they still love brick and mortar!—here's in-depth research into how retailers can meet their new expectations).